The most difficult time to eat right is when going on vacation to a foreign country where you have no control over the preparation of the food you will be eating. Fortunately, most foreign countries have healthier options made from whole ingredients, but that doesn’t mean everything on the menu is going to be healthy or good for you.

I find that for the most part, eating in foreign countries is easy enough with a little planning and understanding what is in the foods you’re looking at eating. Most better restaurants will have healthier options, and many will even work with you if you discuss your concerns with them. I’ve not yet run into someone being offended when I explain to them that I need to avoid grains.

Sometimes, it’s just not possible to avoid the foods you’re trying to stay away from; it’s inevitable. In those cases, I do my best to mitigate the impact on my health by limiting the amount I eat or making the best choices possible given the options. This has served me well in Spain, and I’m hoping it will do the same in Ireland and Scotland.

I hope to be posting some of my culinary experiences soon, as well as experiencing running in both countries. I’m taking my running shoes and running gear, and I plan on sticking to my running plan while we’re there.

As I’ve said many times before, however, you can’t out-run a bad diet, so I will be ever-vigilant and doing my best to mitigate the damage through better choices.